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Thursday, June 21, 2012

Good Trail News! Pencoyd Bridge & Trail Moves Forward

The Pencoyd Bridge connects Manayunk to Lower Merion

Last night, the Lower Merion Board of Commissioners
approved a settlement agreement and a Preliminary Plan with O’Neill Properties to allow them to develop 569 apartments along the Schuylkill
River in Lower Merion. The pending litigation and various lawsuits need
to be resolved, but it is very likely that construction will begin later
this year.

The
first phase of construction will include construction of an 8’
pedestrian outrigger on the Pencoyd Bridge from Philadelphia to Lower
Merion, construction of a .75 mile long, 14’ wide multi-purpose trail along
the waterfront, and construction of 2 large public gathering space/plazas
at the base of the bridges at either end of the site. The western end
of the site will include a 9,000 sq. ft landscaped plaza
overlooking Venice island.

O’Neill
will also contribute approximately $550,000 as the
project is being built, money which will be used to build a connection between his property
and the Cynwyd Trail through the Township-owned Connelly property.

Construction of the yellow Pencoyd segment to start in 2012

This segment is an important connection to the Schuylkill River Trail. It will help facilitate a loop from the Pencoyd Bridge on Main Street (Manayunk) over to Lower Merion Township, up to the Cynwyd Trail, over the Manayunk Bridge and back to Main Street. Congratulations to Lower Merion Township for closing this important trail gap!